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 Clean air, clean water, and healthy soil.Some things are too important to compromise. Help make sure they'll still be possible for the next generation. And the one after that. |
Field Scientists
| These folks have a crucial role to play. Without them, we wouldn't even know what was going on. They constantly monitor the environment by taking samples from the air, from streams, from riverbanks, and many other places. They also identify plant and animal species that contribute to the health of a living community. Their analyses serve several important purposes. They create the information foresters and wildlife managers need to determine the best techniques for maintaining or restoring the health of a given area. The analyses also serve as the hard evidence policymakers need to be able to write regulations that set safety guidelines and pollution limits. |
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Foresters
| Working in conjunction with field scientists (see above), foresters strive to maintain the health of forest ecosystems. Forests play an important role in filtering rainwater and groundwater. In some parts of the country, the forests surrounding water reservoirs provide natural cleaning and filtration for drinking water that serves millions of people. Foresters manage these properties to ensure these ecosystems continue to play this important role. |
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Natural resource managers
| Working in conjunction with field scientists (see above), wildlife managers strive to maintain the health of ecosystems. Managers use information from scientists to develop and carry out programs that ensure the well-being of animal populations. They work primarily in the field to monitor animal populations, observe human interactions, and enforce government limits and regulations. Field reports play an important role in creating policies that protect endangered populations. |
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Federal and State agency officials
| Working in government brings great responsibility along with a great capacity to impact the regulations that eventually effect us all. Agency officials write the rules that everyone else must play by. They define what’s ‘safe’ – from mercury levels released by power plants to emissions released from individual cars. Most of their work is based on the analysis of field scientsits (see above.) |
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Field Scientists
| Accidents do happen, and when they do, we need ways to resolve them. Research scientists work in the lab, looking for chemical and biological solutions to existing and potential contamination problems. Field scientists are called onto the scene. They identify polluted areas, the cause, and the best technique for handling a specific problem based on the pollutant and the type of eco-system effected. |
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Regional planners and urban designers
| Both of these professionals look at land use on a larger scale. They identify ‘zones’ and propose specific types of use (such as housing, commercial, industrial, public access) for each zone. Regional planners work with areas that have lower population densities, while urban planners focus mostly on land use within cities. |
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Landscape architects
| While regional planners and urban designers work mostly at the macro level to determine land use zones, landscape architects work mostly at the micro level after a zone has been defined. They look at a specific site and determine how it will be designed, including the way the ground will be slope and the locations of walkways, trees and other plants. They also specify details, such as types of paving materiasl, light fixtures and benches. |
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Federal, state, and local officials
| Although regional planners and urban designers make proposals about land use, the final determination of how land will be used usually resides with government agents. They write and enforce zoning ordinances - the rules about how land will be used. These decisions are often made in conjunction with elected officials based on economic and environmental analyses of development consequences. |
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Economists
| When there is a question about how to use a piece of land, or when a specific proposal comes forward, economists do financial analyses to determine the impact of one course of action versus another. Most situations create complex trade-offs. A new housing development results in increased tax income for a town, but also increased costs to provide utilities and decreased open space or farmland. Economists compare the financial impact of each option. |
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Foresters
| Forests are both an important part of the global eco-system and an important resource of raw materials for lumber, paper, and fuelwood. Foresters plan for the harvest and regeneration of trees to provide the materials for these products, while ensuring that forests continue to play their crucial role in the environment. Foresters determine which areas will be harvested, which will be replanted, and which will be protected. |
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Soil and wetland scientists
| Soil scientists work in the field to create inventories and map natural resource boundaries. Similarly, wetland scientists create maps that delineate the edges of wetlands so that governments can take appropriate measures to protect identified areas. Scientists are also called in to assess land being considered for development and weigh in on conservation/development planning issues. |
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Research scientists
| The ways crops are grown (including fertilizer and pesticide use), the ways animals are raised (including their food supply and waste run-off), and the ways food is processed, all have an enormous impact on the environment. Research scientists research these issues and look for ways to develop better plant and animal breeds, as well as improved processing techniques that reduce environmental impacts. |
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Economists
| Economists look at all of the above issues, as well as the impacts of food transportation, farm size, farm product channels (selling direct to customers at a market versus selling to a supermarket or processor), pressure of real estate values, agro-tourism and many other issues. Economists monitor trends (such as the move to larger farm sizes) and the impacts of those trends.They recommend possible mechanisms for supporting or minimizing a given direction. |
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Research and field scientists
| Scientists in many fields are contributing to this issue. Some are working to develop new plant breeds that require less fertilizers and pesticides. Others are testing to find pesticides that are less harmful to the environment. Similar work is being done on the animal side to minimize the use of hormones and antibiotics in livestock. |
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Farmers, groundskeepers, livestock breeders
| At the same time, farmers and groundskeepers are working in the field to find better techniques that minimize the need for fertilizers and pesticides. Livestock breeders look for ways to raise healthier animals that have less reliance on pharmaceuticals. |
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